


Innocence

by purplehairedwonder



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 14:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1390585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplehairedwonder/pseuds/purplehairedwonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The days Oliver catches a glimpse of Sara training Felicity, something twists in his gut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Innocence

The first time Oliver descends the steps into the foundry to find Felicity and Sara in workout gear, it’s a couple of weeks after Felicity’s gunshot wound has healed. He stops in his tracks and finds himself unable to tear his eyes away from Sara correcting Felicity’s stance as Felicity hits the training dummy. He gets the distinct impression they’ve been there for a while. An uncomfortable feeling squirms in his chest.

He ends up staring so long at the unexpected sight of Sara _training_ Felicity that they stop what they’re doing; Sara stares at him impassively while Felicity blushes and looks away, wringing her punch-bruised hands in front of her. Oliver can’t help but feel like he’s trespassing on his own hideout.

“I was just coming down to--” he starts before noticing Diggle on the other side of the dummy, watching him with a raised eyebrow.

“What, Ollie?” Sara asks, crossing her arms under her breasts. There’s a measure of challenge to the stance that, combined with Felicity’s obvious discomfort, puts Oliver’s teeth on edge.

His eyes flick to Diggle again, then he shakes his head. “Nevermind.”

Heading back up the stairs to the club, he grits his teeth as the thud of a blow against the dummy echoes hollowly in his ears.

* * *

He catches them at it a few more times after that, even more frequently once Slade announces himself. They’re all on edge then, and Oliver can’t fault anyone for wanting to be prepared, not when he’s as hypervigilant as they come. He’s pretty sure that not only are Sara and Felicity -- and Diggle and Roy, for that matter -- at it more often than he’s aware of, but also that they’re hiding it from him for some reason.

The days he catches a glimpse of Sara taking Felicity through a series of moves with a bo staff or the two of them sparring -- and though it’s painfully clear that Sara is holding back, Felicity still gives a giddy cheer when she lands a blow and Sara tries to hide a smile -- something twists in Oliver’s gut.

It’s not, he realizes in those moments, that he blames Felicity for wanting to learn some self-defense moves -- she’s smart, brave, and occasionally a bit reckless, and Oliver knows _he’ll_ feel better if she can look after herself in the field -- or Sara for teaching her.

What he hates is the sick feeling that comes from the idea of Felicity losing her innocence -- that spark of purity that she’s kept despite everything she’s been through since Oliver and his crusade crashed clumsily into her life, bleeding on her carseat. Oliver and Sara were doomed the moment they stepped on the _Gambit_. Diggle saw hell as a soldier. And Roy had never had a chance, growing up in the Glades.

But Felicity’s innocence is like a beacon to people like them, who find themselves lost in the darkness and elbow-deep in filth. She is a reminder of the good that still exists in the world and is worth protecting. She makes them feel just a little bit cleaner by mere proximity.

The prospect of that light dimming from her eyes whenever she looks up at him from her screens with a quip on her lips leaves a sour taste in Oliver’s mouth.

But the thought of _life_ leaving those eyes is so much worse. Unbearable even. So he closes his mouth and heads back up the stairs, wincing at the thud of a body hitting the floor.

“Again.”

“Felicity, we don’t have to--”

“ _Again._ ”

And for the first time in a long time, he smiles.


End file.
